


One Act

by Aeriel



Category: Eight Days of Luke - Diana Wynne Jones, Norse Religion & Lore
Genre: Gen, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28264830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeriel/pseuds/Aeriel
Summary: After David frees Luke from prison, Sigyn finds herself alone and goes in search of answers.
Relationships: Luke/Sigyn (Eight Days of Luke)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	One Act

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SlowMercury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlowMercury/gifts).



It is a very strange feeling, to stop doing something you’ve been doing for a thousand years. Particularly when the change comes about with very little warning, and no explanation, and particularly when the thing you’ve been doing doesn’t necessarily require you to think very much. 

So one moment you're holding a bowl between a serpent’s mouth and your husband, aware of each droplet of poison as it meets its fellows in the small puddle gathering in the bowl and the next moment everything around you is crumbling to pieces, the serpents are writhing and falling through cracks in the ground that you swear weren’t there before and Loki is— 

Gone. 

So it was for Sigyn on the day that David Allard set Loki free. 

First she went to Odin, the All-Seeing, as there were no secrets from him and at least he’d have seen where in Midgard Loki went. It must be Midgard, Sigyn thought, because it was the only realm the Aesir underestimated.

And so, knowing Odin knew where Loki was, and knowing Odin knew why she was visiting him, because there’s no other reason she would come, Sigyn simply said, “How is he?”

“Having the time of his life and it’s barely been a day there.” Odin smiled. “Granted, after a thousand years punishment, I imagine he’d have fun watching paint dry. In fact, that’s very nearly what he’s doing at the moment.”

Sigyn said nothing at first, because there was no point in telling the All-Father not to make jokes, but then Odin said, “Don’t look so dour, little sister. I’ve no intention of keeping his whereabouts a secret from you. However… don’t you think, after a thousand years, it might be nice to spend some time apart?”

Sigyn opened her mouth to retort indignantly that holding a bowl full of poison over someone didn’t exactly count as _quality time,_ but then stopped, reconsidering. 

“He’s happy, you said.”

“Almost ecstatically.”

“He’s not gotten into any trouble?”

Odin’s eyebrow lifted. “Trouble for whom?”

 _Ah yes. Stupid question._ “Is anyone dead, likely to die, or suffering who wasn’t before he was freed?”

The All-Father smiled. “No.”

“So then perhaps I don’t need to run after him.” She paused. “But some of the others are going to, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“Including you.”

“Including me, if things go as I foresee them to,” Odin confirmed. “And they usually do.”

“I know,” Sigyn said, with a touch of bitterness that was, she felt, not unearned. “You needn’t rub it in.”

He smiled again, not unkindly. “Usually isn’t the same as always.” He paused. “I didn’t foresee you.”

That surprised Sigyn, though she tried to hide it. “Well, I’m not very important.”

“You are important enough to be remembered when so many others are not. One memorable action is all it takes to pass into legend, after all.” 

Sigyn felt herself start to blush, and turned away. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She hesitated. “Thank you, All-Father.”

Still, she couldn’t help but worry. After all, she’d worried over him since before the punishment began.

So next Sigyn went to Thor.

He was surprised to see her, though not surprised enough to suggest he hadn’t heard Loki was free. 

“He’s in a place called the United Kingdom, apparently,” Thor offered. “Calling himself Luke.”

Sigyn did not know much of Midgard, but she had gathered enough to understand this was a place far south of the lands the gods had traditionally journeyed to. “Who freed him?”

“It’s the strangest thing— a boy. No one’s entirely certain which one, but All-Father has his eye on one called David Allard.” 

“They won’t punish a boy.” Even as she said it, Sigyn wondered. 

“Not for freeing him,” Thor agreed. “That’s not what this is about, though some are angrier than others. It’s my hammer.”

“Your…” Sigyn went cold. “Your hammer is missing?”

“Ah, I forget, you’ve been catching poison for a thousand years. Still…” Thor paused. “He didn’t do anything strange? Didn’t speak of any plans for revenge, didn’t cast any spells of hiding? Not in a thousand years?”

“No,” Sigyn said immediately, far too quickly, because in that moment she knew exactly what had happened. A thousand years may be a long time, but when one day passes much like the next, any change in routine is hard to forget. 

She remembered Sigurd, eyes wild and desperate, long after the gods had stopped coming for one reason or another. He was the only one who hadn’t acted as though he were in an ordinary hall, had even taken the bowl from Sigyn’s hands for an hour. A small act of kindness, but she had never forgotten it. 

And now, knowing what it was, there was no way she could undo it. 

“Are you angry with him?” Sigyn asked, unsteadily.

“Yes,” Thor said seriously. Then, after a moment, he smiled. “And yet, how can I be? It’s who he is.”

“He didn’t take your hammer.”

“Well, _someone_ did. Do you think he knows?” 

Sigyn shook her head. 

“I’ll ask him,” Thor said promptly. “Even if he lies, it will be good to see him after all these centuries.”

“He wouldn’t lie about a thing like that,” Sigyn said, firmly. 

Thor laughed, clapping her on the shoulder. “You’re too good for him, Sigyn. You always were.” 

She was too used to hearing that to be flattered. “Does that mean you don’t believe me either?”

“I believe you. And yet, I won’t believe him until I see the look in his eyes.” Thor smiled. “He can never quite keep the amusement out of them when he’s lying, can he? You just have to know how to look”

All at once, Sigyn missed her husband terribly. “Yes.”

“I’ll tell him you asked for him,” Thor promised. “Unless…”

She shook his head. “I’ll come when he needs me. Right now… I’ll let him enjoy being free.”

“And you?”

The question surprised her. “Me?” she repeated.

“You’re free too,” Thor pointed out. “You were there by choice, but you still spent a thousand years in prison right along with him. So go. Enjoy it.”

Thor, Sigyn thought, was wise in his own way.

Still, she hasn't been faithful for a thousand years to cast her worries aside and stroll through the fields without a care now, not when they're all pursuing Loki. She followed Thor at a safe distance, waiting for the time when her husband will need her again.

(And maybe, just maybe, she lays down in the grass and rests her arms while she waits)


End file.
